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Saturday, June 1, 2013

As Tyler hinted at this morning, UGA is zeroed in on Kent State's Scott Stricklin to succeed David Perno.

Kent State’s Scott Stricklin has been tabbed as Georgia’s next baseball coach, a person familiar with UGA’s coaching search has confirmed.Stricklin, 41, had two stints with Georgia Tech as an assistant coach, the last ending in 2004. At Kent State, his alma mater, he has led the Golden Flashes to five NCAA tournament berths and one College World Series appearance (2012) in nine seasons. He is 350-188 in nine years with the Golden Flashes and has led them to five NCAA tournament berths, including the 2012 CWS.At Georgia, Stricklin will succeed David Perno. Perno was dismissed after 12 years at the end of this past season in which the Bulldogs finished last in the SEC.Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity would neither confirm nor deny Stricklin’s hire. “I will not have a comment until we have something to announce,” he said.That announcement is expected to come Monday.

I think this would be a very solid hire. Kent State has been a major player inncollege baseballl under Stricklin and made into the CWS last season. I was enamored by rumors of UVA's O'Connor being lured away. But as Tyler mentions, if Stricklin can pull his pitching coach Mike Birkbeck to Athens it would be a really good hire for Georgia. I'm sure Kent State's record in the classroom as well as on the field helped elevate Stricklin in McGarity's eyes.

For more on what Scott Stricklin has done during his career, the school's bio on him is dripping with bromance.

I've been doing some research on the SEC, and particularly Georgia in the BCS era. Since this chapter of college football is coming to a close it is only fitting to reflect back on our part in it.

I'll save my views for the highlight for later. The last couple days I've been pondering what the lowlight is for Georgia during this time. I'll admit, the first thing that comes to mind is the 2006 Sugar Bowl. There's nothing quite like getting spanked by a Big East team to earn a little self reflection. Hurricane Katrina helped move this game to the Georgia Dome and most players, media and fans alike just viewed the game as a perfunctory exercise.

But Rich Rodriguez and specifically Steve Slaton had a different design. The freshman running back made our defense look silly on the way to a Sugar Bowl record 204 yards, and DJ Shockley and company couldn't keep pace on the scoreboard. Just when we thought we'd scrapped our way back for a win we were caught with our pants down on a fake punt.

Regrettable. Embarrassing. And as the title (a quote from Coach Richt post-game) suggests, grasping for silver linings.

But is it the lowest of lows for Georgia since 1998? Or getting a consolatory game against Hawaii after the 2007 season when we should've been in the big game? How about only getting three berths into the spotlight in 15 years? The same spotlight that's been dominated by SEC teams.

Then again, try this question as a means of self reflection: would you rather be Tennessee, have the first ever BCS title and not much to show for it since? All in all the Vols went to one less BCS bowl than the Dawgs. But my oh my, the fall has been epic.

Friday, May 31, 2013

As expected, Aaron Murray is Emerson's most important player. The embedded quite doesn't completely explain why, but it'll get the blood pumping a little faster for sure.

“I’ve had my share of fun. I’ve been here for four years. I’ve had my spring breaks, I’ve had my summer vacations. This is my last chance to leave here – like I’ve said multiple times, I wanna win championships. And this is my last season to do that. So I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure I’m completely ready to go.”

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

So, after barfing up a quick reaction. Let's try and move forward by looking at what Grantham's options might be for the Clemson game while Josh Harvey-Clemons sits out his game.

At safety look for Connor Norman to get the nod. He knows the system and has played in this very situation last season, and the season before that, while Rambo was serving his suspensions. In fact, if this news had broken in the weeks leading up to the season opener instead of months, I would say with relative certainty that Norman would start at safety in Harvey-Clemons' place. But with months to prepare instead of last minute adjustments, I would say there's a reasonable possibility that someone else could work their way ahead of Norman.

Corey Moore has been on campus a couple years and has comparable size to Harvey-Clemons. Coming out of high school he was a four star defensive back and ranked the fifth best at his position. He's been in 26 games while in Athens; his best game to date was against Georgia Southern last season when he recorded four tackles. At this point, he's either ready or he's not.

Shaq Fluker is a community college signee that will enroll next month and go through summer workouts. He will give up a little in size and could bring plenty of talent as an option, but it will be raw talent. Regardless, he'll get a good look in August.

For more on this speculation, check out Emerson's post from yesterday as he tries and breaks down Grantham's options. However, he leaves out one possibility, Kennar Johnson. Also enrolling next month, Johnson is coming off a decent season at Gulf Coast Community College. He gives up more in size, but he has plenty of playing experience after two "transition" stops post high school.

The bigger concern is who takes Harvey-Clemons place in the nickel, which is the primary set Georgia will run against Clemson's offensive attack. The "star" position was made for kids like Josh, a hybrid size on defense that combines speed, stature, physicality and athleticism. Grantham will certainly have to adjust his gameplan to find a way to add depth to both the defensive front and the backfield at the same time. The guys listed above could help fill that role, but I would add:

Reggie Wilkerson. He would be an after thought except that he was able to enroll early and has a leg up on any late comers this summer. The pros seem to be his cover skills and ability to be around the ball. The cons are he wouldn't help much with run support and is probably not ready to be thrust into the position of making so many reads. Yet, that's where we are, aren't we?

Devin Bowman. Has some experience on his side as this will be his redshirt sophomore season. May recognize more than Wilkerson and has shown he can tackle and help out on the edge. He may be our best option in this package for this game.

Shaq Wiggins. If there's anything I learned from this past recruiting season it's that Shaquille Wiggins has plenty of want to. He's coming to Athens to enroll this summer and he's not the ideal size for this spot, but like so many others, he'll get a good look this August. His eyes should've gotten a little wider with yesterday's news.

So that's where we are. Not sure who I may have missed. But please add them in the comments. As Emerson mentions, most of these guys are traditional d-backs and don't bring that added dimension of physicality that Harvey-Clemons smoked away. So we put our trust in Coach Grantham to make the necessary adjustments for week one.

While we marvel at the amount of money guys like Mark Richt get paid to coach our football team, yesterday (or more specifically, a couple of weeks ago) is not a time when I would've enjoyed having his job. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't Josh Harvey-Clemons the same kid that Richt repeatedly went to church with and patiently waited while his granddad flirted with Jimbo Fisher. This is also the kid that was in Crowell's car the night they were all pulled over, ultimately sealing the running back's fate in Athens.

So it's safe to say, that Harvey-Clemons has had a stern lecture or two. And still he was set to open up the season as a starter on a defense that needs every abled body it can put a jersey on come August 31st. Instead, he fires up a blunt (by his own admission) and smokes it all away.

Unbelievable. Then again, I get less and less surprised by shit like this every year. Did our title shot take a hit (pardon the pun) with yesterday's news? No, not a severe one. Harvey-Clemons is a safety and we somehow managed to sit our All-SEC safety down for four games last season and made it pretty close. Sure, it would've really helped to have him available in Clemson against Chad Morris' offense. But it's not like Aaron Murray or Todd Gurley were measuring weed with Ty Flournoy-Smith a couple weeks ago. We'll be okay.

No, the bigger issue is how, despite knowing the fine line they are sitting on in Athens with the campus police and at UGA with the iron-clad drug policy, these kids still put themselves and their immediate misguided interests before the team. Not even a month after Bacarri Rambo dropped in the draft to the fourth round after facing multiple suspensions, this heir apparent figures he can take his five recruiting stars and get by the cops' noses and Butts-Mehre's pissing cup.

I guess what I'm saying is, as a fan I continue to be befuddled by the fact that our own drug policy hurts the team year in and year out, all while seemingly doing little to change the behavior year in and year out. And the added byproduct is it keeps the AJC sports staff in business. Wahoo! Quite obviously, to expect athletes to not smoke dope while we're providing them with a campus full of the best looking women the south has to offer, housing in the best city Earth has to offer, several chances each fall to play tackle football on television, and oh by the way, also a college education free of charge, is an expectation wrought with contempt.

Yes, bewilderment lives in the hearts and minds of the Georgia football fan. But if I were Coach Richt I'd be hotter than seven bloody hells.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

According to UGA Police incident report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday, police were called to Vandiver Hall on River Road at 11:33 p.m. on May 15 after a residence hall assistant detected the odor of marijuana emanating from room number 303. Police knocked on the door and found Harvey-Clemons and Flournoy-Smith inside.

Police were granted consent to search the residence and no marijuana was found. However, Flournoy-Smith and Harvey-Clemons were said to have “exhibited signs of marijuana ingestion” as they had blood-shot eyes and dilated pupils. After questioning, the players admitted they had “smoked a blunt,” which is slang for a using a cigar to smoke marijuana, police said.

Surely you've already been alerted to the twitters of Coach Pehrson, an engiNerd grad assistant. This morning came one of my favorite installments of "#themigration".

Skirting around the fact that Pehrson misspelled Historic Mark Richt Field, I am tickled by the bold prediction of winning "a number of games". Maybe he should've left it at the word "win".

From there I imagine a meeting between Mark Bradley's genius and Pehrson, with it ending in stern warning of not providing the likes of Elon, Duke and Alabama A&M bulletin board material. Hence...a number of games.

Then...the sword. Nice touch. Obviously stolen from a trojan back in December. If only it had blood KiffyBaby's dignity dripping from it.

However, I bet Johnson is wishing he would've added the suggestion of not cropping his head off. I mean, does #TheMigration really need that much room? Do they even have Twitter in Canadia?

With the exception of Chris Burnette's wedding on Saturday, the month of May has been rather dull. Thankfully. As Weiszer explains, there's been some fishing and some rehabbing. But mostly everyone is gearing up for June when the team returns and summer workouts begin.

Quarterback Aaron Murray will meet with other team leaders and divide the players up into subgroups.They will lead the rest of the team throughout the summer and hold them accountable for summer workouts, which are voluntary.Last summer, coaches and players met every Thursday. That was considered character education with speakers coming in to talk.This summer, they will do that and break them up by class. Different coaches will handle mainly leadership issues. Richt is working with the seniors.“It’s going to be up to them to get the work done,” he said.

Former basketball player Demario Mayfield and former football player Ricardo Crawford were arrested near campus over the weekend and charged with possession of armed robbery gear.

An officer who confronted the driver saw a clown mask on the floorboard, a furry hat on the seat, and a handgun tucked in the man’s crotch, according to the report. The man was ordered out, where he was handcuffed and the gun secured, police said.

The officer then noted that he found a pair of latex gloves and a bag containing the residue of marijuana.

The second officer also found a handgun in the floorboard beside the passenger, along with a dust mask and latex gloves, all described as “armed robbery gear,” according to the report.

Bernie's Dawg Blawg is not affiliated with the University of Georgia or any other institution or organization. It's use is meant solely for your utter boredom as well as a complement to your working knowledge of all things DAWG.